Avelo Airlines to establish new base operations at Sonoma County airport, add dozens of new jobs

Avelo Airlines announced Tuesday morning it will set up its newest base operations May 1 at Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport, bringing about 50 new jobs to the region.

Burbank-based Avelo said in a news release it will initially base two Boeing Next-Generation 737 aircraft at the airport, and hire dozens of crew members to include pilots, flight attendants and aviation maintenance technicians.

“Having more professional jobs in the community is a great thing,” said Airport Manager Jon Stout. “It gets (Avelo) more invested in the community, and they are big contributors to the economy.”

Avelo’s deeper investment in Sonoma County also means the airline will be adding another four to six markets to the four it already services, Stout said. The existing markets are Burbank/Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Palm Springs and central Oregon, the latter two being seasonal service.

“They’re evaluating new destinations and they plan on announcing those in the next couple of weeks,” Stout said. “They just have not been finalized.”

Stout did say the new markets will be among those Avelo already services on the West Coast. Those destinations are Eureka and Redding in California; Ogden, Utah; Eugene, Portland and Salem, Oregon; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Boise, Idaho; Bozeman and Kalispell, Montana; and Pasco, Washington.

Stout emphasized Avelo’s added flights will not be connecting flights, but rather nonstop service to the aforementioned existing West Coast markets.

The new flights would begin sometime after May 1, when Avelo launches its base operations at the Sonoma County airport, he said.

Avelo’s further commitment to the regional airport will be a game changer for the facility.

“With the aircraft actually being in Santa Rosa, they’ll start and stop their days here, which gives them the potential to have longer flights, and do more (flights) in a day from Santa Rosa,” Stout said.

The new base operations at the Santa Rosa facility will mark the seventh for Avelo. It also has base operations at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR), Southern Connecticut’s Tweed-New Haven Airport (HVN), Orlando International Airport (MCO), the Philadelphia and Delaware Valley region’s Wilmington Airport (ILG), Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU) and Las Vegas’ Harry Reid International Airport (LAS), the release stated.

“We will now be one of those cities,” Stout said.

In the Tuesday news release, Avelo Airlines Founder, Chairman and CEO Andrew Levy said: “As the inaugural destination of Avelo’s first flight in 2021, the Bay Area has a special spot in our history. … We are very excited about the platform for growth the airport offers Avelo, and the meaningful employment and economic impact our investment will bring to the region.”

Avelo Airlines flew 11,066 passengers in December, up 6.1% from a year prior. Its load factor — the measure of how full airplanes are on average — was 72%. That data was released Jan. 19, 2024.

To learn more about Avelo’s career opportunities, visit AveloAir.com/Careers.

This story has been updated with details about Avelo’s plans at the Sonoma County airport, including service to additional destinations, and additional comments from Airport Manager Jon Stout.